The Necromancer
by stupid-blackcherry
Summary: The 10th Doctor, Rose and Mickey land on a mysterious, 26th century spaceship... a spaceship that contains not only two stowaways, frozen bodies and ... well that would be telling
1. The Ice Room

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. :) Do I even need to bother telling you that?**

**Anyway, this story gets off to a slow start... for which I can only apologise...I tried... :)**

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Edging sideways, her back pressed against the frozen steel wall, Nova carefully adjusted the settings on the gun in her hands as the man next to her snorted scornfully.

"Bren!" Nova whispered, fiercely. "What is your problem?"

"Why do you insist on using that crappy, antique thing?" He said, holding out his flashy, new LB gun and waving it obstinately in her face. "You should use something like this, never fails!" Bren boasted.

Nova eyed the gun suspiciously as it seductively glinted at her, seemingly saying -'Look at me! Aren't I fabulous?'. Nova repressed the urge to snatch the wretched thing out of Bren's hands and start jumping on it. Instead, she ignored his jibe and continued to edge along the wall, which seemed to be getting colder the further down it they went.

Cautiously, Nova peered around the corner, her 'antique' gun poised at the ready but one quick glance showed her the corridor was completely empty. At the end of the corridor, about five feet from where Nova was standing, was a steel door, it too was covered in a thin film of ice. Bren peered over her shoulder to get a good look.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, right next to her ear. Nova jumped at the sudden cry, and then covered up her nervousness by pretending to have a sudden coughing fit. "Are you okay there, buddy?" Nova nodded her head as she brought her enthusiastic, coughing fit performance to an abrupt end.

"Yeah, fine. So why did you just yell?" She quizzed him.

"Well, maybe whatever's behind that door is the reason this floor is into the ruddy minuses! I just hope it's not your brother…" Nova grinned back at him playfully, hiding the fact that she had thought exactly the same thought just moment's before- 'maybe that's where they're hiding Damian…'.

"Shall we take a look?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him and made her way towards the frosted door. It looked as though it was meant to be automatic; the sensor that activated it was above the doorframe. However, the cold temperature had caused ice to form over the door and wall and literally fuse the door shut. Nova slid her fingernails into the groove between the door and the wall, unsuccessfully trying to prise it open. Bren stood in the background, and silently watched her futile attempts to pull the door open.

"Help! Will you?" Nova snapped, irritably. Stepping forward, Bren grinned widely as he pulled out his, glinting, LB gun and aimed it at Nova and the door. Nova's instant, innate reaction was to shut her eyes. She waited, frozen like the door, terrified. Nothing happened. Warily, she let her eyes flicker open and saw that the ice around the door had melted and Bren was now holding the previously sealed door open for her.

"Did you think I was about to shoot you?" He stared at her incredulously.

"Err…well…you see…" Nova stared at the floor, extremely embarrassed that she could have believed Bren was capable of such a cruel betrayal.

"Let's look inside." Bren said and walked briskly in through the door, Nova following him until Bren stopped abruptly. Nova could not see what had caused Bren to stop so suddenly as he was blocking her view, being such a 'well-built' young man as Bren continually referred to himself as.

"What is it, Bren?" Her voice sounded high-pitched, her panic evident. "Is it Damian?"

"No." Bren said, slowly. He stepped back to show her the room in front. The ceiling was dome-shaped with a hefty fan inserted in the middle of it. The walls, covered in a thick layer of ice making it impossible to discern what they were made from, went up at least forty feet above them. Nova could see the icicles clinging to the frosted ceiling, but what she noticed first were the bodies. Hundreds upon hundreds of frozen bodies, lined up against the walls, their empty and ice-covered eyes staring and unblinking.

"Oh My Lord" Nova said, weakly.

**(Cue The Music! You all know how it goes! ;) )**

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"She had no body?" Mickey said in amazement. "What? So, she was like… just a stretched bit o' skin?" He looked from Rose to the Doctor, then back, seeking confirmation.

Yeah!" Rose grinned. "And it had to be _moisturised_ regularly!" Mickey pulled a disgusted face.

"Yeah, but, who'd wanna live like that?"

"She wasn't what you would call normal…" The Doctor answered, sprinting round to the other side of the Tardis and flicking various knobs and switches. "Could you press that for me?" He added to Rose.

"Yeah. Definitely not normal, she thought Britney Spear's Toxic was an old English Ballad! Britney ain't that great!" Rose snorted as she pressed down a red button that was flashing and screeching ominously.

"Hey! I like Britney!" Mickey said, offended.

"That's one reason to hate her then…" Muttered the Doctor, distractedly, as Rose giggled at the expression on Mickey's face.

Mickey folded his arms crossly and glared at Rose, who was now biting her lip hard to stop herself from laughing. He was about to make some witty retort, when a sudden 'whooshing' sound rudely interrupted him and the Tardis seemingly crashed to the ground, sending Mickey and Rose to the other side of it, where they were hurled forcefully against the doors and then slid down onto the floor. The Doctor stood over them; one eyebrow raised, and then extended his hand for Rose. He pulled her to her feet then neatly stepped over Mickey and opened the door.

"Oh, I see! Just leave me here then!" Mickey grumbled darkly under his breath.

"Alright then!" The Doctor replied jovially, thrusting his hands into his pockets. "Well, well, well!"

"What is it?" Rose asked, appearing at the Doctor's side. "Where're we?"

"Spaceship," the Doctor stated matter-of-factly, "and an early one, if I'm not mistaken." He turned to Rose and gave her a huge grin, "And I never am!"

He strode forward confidently, surveying their new surroundings with an excited look on his face, like a child who has been given a new toy plane to fiddle around with, and he let out a few sighs of exuberance. "We seem to have landed in the cargo department." He got out his sonic screwdriver and ran it along the steel walls, frowning as he did so.

"_Very_ early, actually. One of the earliest Earth models." He turned back to Rose. "Quite crude in fact. A rudimentary vessel." He thrust his hands into his pockets once again, and briefly stood on the spot, humming a tune. Mickey stood watching, completely bemused. Rose just smiled knowingly.

"Right!" The Doctor exclaimed. "Let's not idly, stand around!" He moved towards the door, and then turned on his heel. "Well? Come on then! Time to explore, comrades!"

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	2. SKULD!

**I updated really quick! Well, I should be revising... but I got bored! i think this part could have too much dialogue... tell me what you think:)**

**Anyway, on with the show!**

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"So, like, how far in the future are we?" Mickey ran up alongside the Doctor, fed up with having to run along every now and then just to keep up with the strutting Doctor. Mickey vaguely wished he could be that effortlessly sexy, then immediately banished the thought from his mind. 

"The Tardis showed that we're in the twenty-sixth century," the Doctor replied, " but this spaceship is a lot earlier then that." The Doctor stopped so suddenly that Mickey continued walking for a few paces. "In fact, it's rather odd that it _is_ here."

"What d'you mean?" Rose questioned.

"I don't know." The Doctor frowned, evidently deep in his thoughts, then as suddenly as he had stopped he started again. "Guess we'll find out." Mickey shivered as he began following the Doctor again, it seemed that the further they carried on along the corridor the colder it got. He turned to look at Rose; she too was shivering slightly and rubbing her bare arms. Mickey breathed out heavily noticing that his breath, which hung in the air like a cloud of steam, was visible.

"Nippy isn't it!" The Doctor cheerfully remarked.

"Nippy? It's more than a bit _nippy_!" Mickey snapped. "Besides, it's alright for you! You've got a coat." He grumbled.

"Why's it so cold? It weren't this bad in the cargo-" Rose was cut off by the abrupt entrance of a girl with an extremely bright blue T-shirt on, so bright it was almost fluorescent, and dirty blonde hair to her shoulders which had numerous pink plaits scattered over it. The girl was followed by a muscular (slightly rotund), man with spiky black hair and he was wearing a similar T-shirt to the girl. However, it was not the T-shirts that grabbed Rose's attention but the fact that they were both pointing what looked like space-age guns straight at her.

"Hello there!" The Doctor said, far too merrily in Rose's opinion. The two strangers were briefly perplexed by his attitude; they had obviously been expecting to ignite fear within whomever they came across. The Doctor's fear had definitely not been ignited.

"Tell us who controls SKULD!" The girl demanded, shoving the gun sharply into the Doctor's side, her companion pointed his gun at Rose's head as he intuitively knew that the chances of Mickey attacking him were infinite to one.

"SKULD?" The Doctor spoke, more to himself then anyone else. "Is that what this spaceship's called? Weird name…" The girl thrust the gun further into his sides.

"_Don't mess around with me_." The girl growled in his ear. "Just tell me who your boss is and no one gets _hurt_."

"I'd love to! Just one problem though, I haven't got a clue what you are on about!" He turned to grin at her. "Now, let's put that gun down shall we? Then we can talk about this like-" A loud bang reverberated around them, it's echoes ringing in their ears. Then there was the sound of far-away footsteps, pounding on the metal floor, heading straight towards the corridor where they were standing. The girl grabbed the Doctor's arm forcefully, a panicked look across her face as she motioned with her gun for the others to lead.

"Quick! Down that corridor!" The man whispered, his voice rough and gravely. They sprinted back down the way that they had just came, through to the exact door that they had just left.

"Go through that doorway!" The girl whispered to them. " And be quiet!" She commanded as she pushed the Doctor through before locking the door behind her, then pressing against, listening out for any noise that would show they had been followed.

"Hey!" The Doctor said, rubbing his arm protectively. "Be gentle with me! This body's brand new!" The girl turned away from the door and frowned suspiciously at him, once again holding out her gun.

"We're back in the cargo department." Sighed Rose. "Fantas- ouch!" She exclaimed as the man shoved the gun into her ribs very viciously.

"Alright!" She retorted. "I get it!"

"Ay! Leave her alone, Spiky!" The Doctor turned on the man with the gun, looking fiercely at him. "No need for uncalled for violence!" He whipped round to face the blonde girl again. "Can you call your little crony off?" He asked, pointing his thumb at the man glowering behind him. The girl simply rolled her eyes in reply.

"Right, so spill. Tell me who you are!" The blonde ordered.

"Ask me nicely!" The Doctor said playfully.

"Fine! Who are you_, please_?" She emphasised the last word so vehemently it sounded reminiscent of some alien swear word.

"That's better! Well, I'm _The_ Doctor! And she," he pointed to Rose, "is my companion Rose, and that," he waved dismissively at Mickey, "is Rickey-"

"Mickey!"

"And we landed here accidentally. So I take it you're stowaways?" He asked pleasantly but the girl just ignored his question.

"Landed? I'm confused; this ship has no landing port."

"Who needs a landing port when you've got a Tardis?" Winked the Doctor, "So, now I've answered your question, you answer mine. Who are _you_?" He folded his arms expectantly, watching her closely.

"My name is Nova, and that's Bren." She answered, reluctantly after a brief pause, obviously realising that the Doctor was not a force to be reckoned with. Then she lowered her gun and walked forward, her hand outstretched. The Doctor shook it enthusiastically, his huge grin back on his face.

"Well Nova, what brings you here?" Nova licked her lips thoughtfully; evaluating whether she should tell a complete stranger what she was doing, then decided that the Doctor looked like a trustworthy person.

"SKULD kidnapped my brother – Damian – and we're here to get him back." Nova sighed, collapsing down onto a metal cargo box.

"I thought SKULD was the spaceship?" Contributed Mickey, who hated being left out of a conversation for so long. "How could a spaceship kidnap a guy?" Nova twisted around to look at him glaring, her brown eyes creasing slightly at the corners and Mickey, instinctively, took a step backwards.

"It's an organisation." She said the words slowly and deliberately, as if speaking to a naïve, little child. "Not just a spaceship." Mickey was incensed; why did everyone enjoy taunting him so much? They treated him like the village idiot.

"So they took your brother? Why would they want him?" enquired Rose, stepping closer to the Doctor now as Bren had removed his gun from her ribcage.

"Because he's _special_." Bren answered from behind her.

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	3. Damian

**I've changed this so many times there may be loads of mistakes... :S I'm sorry if there are! Tell me!**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, they were encouraging! Review more!**

**Anyway... On with the show, or story as I should say.**

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A tall, skeletal man swept along the metal corridors, protected each side by armed guards equipped with guns similar to the very one Bren carried, and the way was lead by a shorter, yet equally skeletal woman, her cropped, black hair scraped back behind her head. She was carrying what appeared to be a small, electric generator in her long-fingered grip, with numerous menacing levers and clamps upon it. 

They continued to glide down the corridor and stopped outside a door. The woman stepped towards a box that was positioned on the wall and she pressed her thumb down hard on the glass screen. The doorframe swiftly lit up green and the doors opened to let the skeletal pair through. They had entered into a small, enclosed room with minimal light; the only light source being a tiny, cube- shaped box in the centre of the ceiling, that was pulsating slightly, and various red lights positioned within the room's walls. Around the walls stood more armed guards, who all stood to attention when they saw the pair enter, and straight ahead, taking up most of the rooms floor space, was a huge, metal, barred enclosure where a young man was confined within.

The boy was huddled at the far end of the cage, his arms wrapped protectively around his slender legs, and sweat glistening on his forehead, shimmering on his golden hair. There were countless lacerations and burns across the boy's arms, one deep cut was still trickling syrupy, red blood down his arm. He began whimpering when he saw the man and woman come forward towards the cage. The woman held out what resembled a 21st century remote control and the cage doors swung open enough for the angular pair to enter. The spectral man sneered malevolently as the boy turned his head upwards slowly, hatred and terror burning in his azure eyes. The woman placed the mechanical box down next to him and began attaching the wires and clamps to the young man.

"Damian my child, be a good boy," she spoke in a mockingly, maternal voice, "this will hurt_ dreadfully_!"

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"Damian has the gift of Foresight." Bren explained. "He can see events that are going to happen in the future-"

"I know 'ow that feels…" Rose mumbled under her breath.

"He knows what will happen in ten, fifty, a hundred years!" Bren continued.

"Bet he didn't see this coming!" Chortled Mickey, and then he quelled his laughter after seeing the look Nova shot at him.

"He can't _choose_ what to see. The premonitions come of their own accord." Nova snapped at Mickey, her anger bursting up from all the hidden fear and worry, how dare this stranger insult her brother like that! The Doctor leaped up onto his feet as she finished speaking and extended his hand out towards Nova.

"Let's not waste any time chatting," he raised an eyebrow as he surveyed them all, "let's rescue your brother, shall we?" He smiled at her warmly and she returned it weakly.

"How can we rescue him when we can't even find him?" Bren strode forwards so he was level with Nova and the Doctor. "Nova and me have been searching but this place is teeming with all those bloody armed guards! We thought it would be simple- but there's too many of them!" Bren punched his fist into his other hand, showing his frustration at his helplessness and ultimately, his failure to do what he had so obviously believed to be a simple mission. "It's impossible!"

"Well it's your lucky day!" The Doctor laughed as he bounded over towards the door. " Because, impossible is my middle name!"

"Yeh don't even have a first name, let alone a middle one!" Rose joked.

"Course I do! It's John Smith, at your service!" He said, taking a bow so exaggerated his nose nearly touched the floor. "Now then, let's split up gang! Bren and Nova, as you've been on this spaceship longer you can show us the way," he paused to beam at them, under the impression that they would be delighted to lead the way, " which means Bren, I'm leaving my Rose in your capable hands. Nova shall be in mine!" He winked at the blonde girl next to him who looked mildly perturbed by it. Rose looked as though she had just swallowed some nasty medicine.

"What about me?" Mickey asked, visibly affronted by the Doctors overlooking of him.

"You can go with Bren." The Doctor waved his hand dismissively.

"Gee, thanks…" Muttered Bren.

"Will you be okay, Rose?" The Doctor turned to her; concerned that she would be wandering the floors of a mysterious spaceship with a man that had been pointing a gun at her moments before.

"Yeah, I'll be fine!" Rose replied, trying to look as though it did not matter to her who she went with, though she felt jealous the Doctor had chosen to leave her and go with Nova. "What about you?" The Doctor grinned

"Trouble always finds me!" He began walking off then backtracked. "Second thoughts, I'll take Mickey. I don't want you two gallivanting off somewhere together!" Rose rolled her eyes at the Doctor's back as his group walked off in the opposite direction. So now he was taking Mickey as well? Why did he not want her there?

"Hey! I saw that!" Shouted the Doctor over his shoulder.

"I thought his name was Rickey?" Nova said as they made their way up the corridor.

"It changes." Stated the Doctor. Nova just raised her eyebrows, evidently baffled with the Time Lord's answers and the fact that everyone seemed to have changing names. Mickey resolved to just ignore the Doctor's jibes; it would make his life a lot easier.

"Interesting hair, very pretty braids." Noted the Doctor. Nova turned the same colour as her hair.

"Erm…thanks!" She smiled at him.

"So, you like the blondes? Ay, Doctor?" Mickey grinned.

"Why? Thinking of dying your hair?" Came the reply. Mickey scowled and made a further resolution to not only ignore the Doctor's jibes but to just ignore the Doctor in general. The Doctor noticed Mickey's unusual silence.

"I was only joking Mickey! Your hair's pretty too! Well," he patted Mickey's hair affectionately, "What there is of it." Mickey scowled as the approached the icy corridor.

"I don't think we should go back that way." Nova said as she came to a halt. The Doctor looked at her quizzically.

"Why?" He said suspiciously. "What have you seen?"

"Nothing!" Nova said hurriedly. "I just don't think it's a good idea, that's all!" But the Doctor was watching her, disbelievingly.

"Tell me!" The words were not just a command; they were a threat. Nova ran a hand through her hair as she bit her lip. The Doctor's eyes darkened as he continued to watch Nova intently.

"There's a room. Filled with…" She broke off.

"What?" Mickey was beginning to feel panic. "What's in the room?"

"Bodies. Hundreds. All frozen and just… sitting there!" Nova said, her voice displaying fear and shock. The Doctor started off along the corridor, walking so fast he was practically running with his suede coat billowing out behind him, to reach the room.

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"So…" Rose started, attempting to make conversation with Bren who so far had not said a word to her since they had left the others, "is Damian your brother?"

"No, just Nova's brother." Bren replied. "Damian's a close friend of mine. Same age. Known each other since we were about this high." Bren held his hand down to indicate knee-height. "Me and Nova are close too."

"You an' Nova… are you an item then or what?" Bren replied with a rather loud snort.

"No!" He chuckled. "Just friends. She's not my…type." A smile played at the corner of his lips. "What about you and the Doctor?" He glanced down at her.

"No!" Rose snorted too. "Besides, 'e wouldn't be interested. 'E's not like that…" She cut off suddenly. What about her and the Doctor? Did she want him to be 'like that', whatever 'that' was? Did she want him to be interested? Bren seemed to sense her train of thoughts and he slipped his hand into Rose's and smiled down at her.

"Plenty of fish!" He said brightly.

"Hey! You've warmed up a lot!" Laughed Rose. "It was only, like, ten minutes ago you were shovin' a gun in me!" Bren grinned back at her roguishly.

"Well…" He shrugged. "I did think you were one of them guards! Besides, I wouldn't have actually shot you."

"Yeah, I bet you're just a pussycat really! Jus' like the Doctor, he puts on this tough man exterior but really he's just a sweetie…" Rose trailed off; she was talking about the Doctor again. Bren just chuckled.

"That's what Damian used to say about me…" He spoke softly, a sad smile on his face. "Heh, 'used to say'; I'm using past tense already…" Rose smiled sympathetically, and then squeezed his hand for good measure. Bren looked back at her gratefully.

"We'll find 'im." Rose promised. Bren was about to speak; his mouth was half open, when three guards, all in black body suits, appeared from around the corner in front of them. Bren dropped his hold on Rose's hand to pull out his LB gun as Rose turned around, preparing to run the way they had just came. However, two more guards had arrived from behind them and were now blocking the way. Bren pointed his gun at each guard in turn, unsure of what to do, realising that they were outnumbered. The guards began closing in on them. Rose knew they were trapped.

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**Well, I hope you enjoyed it, after all, that's why I write. Review, please:)**


	4. The Meeting

**Dedicated to Sepik! Because Sepik reviews so much! -**

**I don't think thischapter is very long either,I tried! I'm sorry! **

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"Any ideas, Doctor?" Nova walked up to him as he examined the bodies with his sonic screwdriver, his black glasses now upon his nose.

"Well, they've all been frozen. No brain activity though no actual physical problems. All perfectly healthy apart form the minor detail of being frozen-" Nova stared at him, appalled.

"Were they killed then…?"

"Well, no- that's what's so puzzling. If these bodies were unfrozen they have every chance of just being able to get up and go. With some help, mind. They might snap along the way…"

"Get up… and go? How can they live if they've been frozen?" Mickey asked, shocked and bewildered.

"They won't be _alive _in the way you know of." The Doctor replied. "Just exist. But someone has to control them." Came the Doctor's grim reply as he scanned one body with the screwdriver.

"Aha!" The Doctor exclaimed loudly after a brief pause and made Mickey jump. There's a little device in their brains! That's how they'll be controlled! It sends out impulses, activates the neurones!" Nova looked completely perplexed by the last remark, as did Mickey but that was for a different reason (he didn't understand).

"So," Nova spoke, "you're saying that someone froze all these people so they could control them?"

"Yep!" The Doctor smiled, looking very proud of himself.

"But," Mickey spoke. "Who'd wanna freeze so many? There must be hundreds of 'em."

"There are…" The Doctor replied, suddenly solemn. "But _why_…?" He walked further in the room, ducking down to examine the floor then standing up again to examine the walls. "Why would someone freeze _all these people_ then transport them into the middle of space- the middle of nowhere?" He turned on his heel and made his way back towards Nova and Mickey.

"And," he said as he came face-to face with Nova, "why do they need your brother?"

"Do you think…He's…?" She pointed towards the frozen bodies behind the Doctor, her question hung in the air, unfinished, yet both the Doctor and Mickey knew what she was thinking.

"No," the Doctor said firmly, "He's worth more to them alive." Nova did not look all too relieved by this comment in fact, she looked a lot worse.

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Rose opened her eyes slowly, her left side completely numb from lying on what felt like a hard, steel floor. Her vision was very blurred so all Rose could see of her surroundings were faint, hazy red lights that penetrated the darkness and reached her line of vision. Rose attempted to stand but her left leg was unwilling to co-operate and when she tried to move it a horrible, prickly sensation went up and down the nerves in her and it collapsed underneath her.

"Best just to sit." Bren's voice floated through the darkness. Rose looked up, blinking rapidly in order to dispel her blurry vision. Slowly her surroundings swam into focus, though it was still quite dark, Rose was able to see that she was in what appeared to be a cage. She crawled her way towards Bren's voice on the far side of the cage. Bren was sitting in the corner, his back resting against the metal bars, and a boy's sleeping head resting in his lap. The boy had a young face but Rose guessed he must have been the same age as Bren.

"That Damian?" She nodded her head towards the dozing figure.

"Yeah," Bren looked down at Damian fondly, "though what on bountiful earth they've been doing to him…" Bren traced the wounds on Damian's arm, worried creases appearing in his face. Rose peered at the small white marks scattered over Damian's arms.

"Looks like 'e's been burned." Rose said, also looking worriedly down at Damian.

"I know. I want to know who did it." Bren said fiercely.

"'As 'e spoken to you yet?" Rose asked and Bren nodded slightly.

"Yeah, he mumbled something about skeleton people and spirits. That's all I got out of him." Bren shrugged whilst he said it, indicating to Rose he did not understand what Damian was talking about. "He's tired." Bren said as a way of apologising. Bren clearly thought Damian was confused and his incoherent ramblings were due to exhaustion or the torture Damian had obviously been through.

Just then, Rose became aware of a movement behind her. A guard had stepped forward from the wall where he had previously been in shadow but now the red light reflected off the smooth, armoured plates on his torso.

"Order from commanding officer; you are to be taken." Rose blinked in puzzlement.

"Taken where?" She demanded, standing up to make herself look more powerful, though this effect was cancelled out by the fact that her leg would not stop shaking.

"You have no right to an answer." The guard replied.

"What d'you mean I '_have no right to an answer'_?" Rose mimicked the guard, glaring angrily at him. "If you don't tell me then I ain't gonna-" But what Rose was not going to do the guard did not find out as the door suddenly opened and in came another guard, almost similar apart from the silver badge on his chest. Rose assumed immediately this was the commanding officer. The guard who had first spoken stepped backwards as the commanding officer entered.

"I am to take you two." His voice was low and droning. "Now." The guard raised his gun up a little higher. Bren now stood up and joined Rose.

"Why?" Bren too demanded.

"Come with me." The guard spoke again in his monotonous voice.

"Why?" Rose said, not moving. "Where're you taking us?"

"You do not make the demands on this ship!" The guard said heatedly and he raised his gun up higher.

"I'm not leaving Damian here!" Bren spoke furiously. "I am not letting you touch him again!" The guard moved forwards slightly, if she could have seen his face Rose was sure it would be smiling evilly.

"His pain is necessary." Came the reply.

"What are you doin' to 'im?" Rose was frustrated with the guard's pitiless replies.

"You can ask those questions soon." Came the vague reply. The commanding officer then pointed a control at the cage and it opened to let in four guards, two on either side of Bren and Rose. They grabbed them forcefully and led them out of the cage as Bren and Rose struggled, fruitlessly resisting the powerful guards.

* * *

The Doctor, Mickey and Nova had left the ice room and were now heading down a dark corridor that was a lot warmer then the ones they had been down so far. They were now hoping to meet with Rose and Bren but Nova could not reach Bren on his Transmitter.

"I know he had it!" She said, rattling her Transmitter. "But I'm not even getting interference." She was becoming agitated now.

"What if they've been caught?" Mickey said, voicing his concern.

"Rose is a bright girl. I trust her." Mickey looked at him astonished.

"Trust? How is that gonna help her?" The Doctor ignored Mickey's outburst and continued.

"They won't kill them anyway. They'll want to know how they got on the ship." Nova and Mickey exchanged an uneasy look. They reached the end of the corridor only to be greeted with another door. The Doctor retrieved his sonic screwdriver from within the depths of his coat and begun working on the lock. Within seconds the door was wide open.

"So simple!" He grinned and they entered. The room was smaller than the ones they had been in so far but it was still quite a large room. All around were steel boxes; Mickey peered cautiously into one, half expecting to see a frozen head but there was not one. Instead there were many smaller steel boxes each with 'Nitro-9' engraved on the side.

"Nitro-9…" Mickey said vaguely as he read the labels. The Doctor whipped round on hearing it.

"Nitro-9?" He asked, peering also into a box. "Oh! How fantastic!"

"What is it?" Mickey asked.

"Explosives!" The Doctor replied. Mickey wondered what was so fantastic about explosives when the Doctor spoke again. " I knew someone who used to make this…" He paused for a second; plainly remembering some long-distant acquaintance, then he moved off again and headed for the door on the opposite side of the room.

"Let's move on, shall we?"

Rose and Bren were thrown down roughly onto the floor by the guards who then stood back against the walls. Rose glanced up into the darkness ahead to see what looked like a skeleton propped up in black, pod-shaped chair ahead of her. It was only when the 'skeleton' raised an arm did Rose realise it was a human. Next to the skeleton, in a similar chair, but slightly lower and further forwards sat a short, pale woman.

"Come forward." said the woman coldly. "Stand." Rose and Bren obeyed, both warily watching the skeletons in the pods.

"What's your name, girl?" The woman spoke again.

"R-Rose Ty- Rose Tyler." Rose gulped, closing her eyes. She wanted the Doctor.

"And yours?" The woman turned slowly towards Bren.

"Bren Hartnell." Bren was obviously attempting to sound fearless but his voice was at least two octaves higher than normal. The woman surveyed them both for a few seconds before speaking again.

"Why are you here?" She asked coldly.

"We're saving Damian." Bren replied daringly. The woman looked at him, her eyes were wide and she looked surprised but then that was replaced by a look of malice.

"You thought you could save your friend did you?" Sneered the woman. "Thought you could just pluck him from right under our noses?" She laughed. "Oh children! What _fools_ you are!" Rose's fists clenched as the woman continued to laugh at them.

"Tell them," the skeleton man suddenly spoke, his voice was low and sent cold shivers down Rose's spine, "tell them why their friend is going to die."

"Oh yes! Your friend! Your friend is quite important to us children. With his power, his power to see the future."

"What about his power? Bren snapped.

"We harness it. We can harness his power." She paused, obviously wallowing in her own smugness before continuing. "By using … preserved souls, shall we say?" Her lips flickered upwards into what Rose presumed was meant to be a smile.

"Souls…? Those frozen bodies!" Bren gasped next to Rose. "All those people…" He broke off. Rose did not know what he was talking about but she did not like the mention of the frozen bodies.

"They would be proud if they knew what their deaths were for!" The woman spoke sharply. "Proud to know they came to some use!" Rose's fist clenched further, her nails now digging into her palm.

"What are you using 'em for?" Rose suddenly spoke loudly, her voce unusually abrupt and irate. But it was not the woman who answered.

"Power." Came the rasping voice. The figure moved his heads forwards so Rose now had a clear, though unpleasant, view of his face. "I shall harness the power from the souls… the operative spirits. I shall have limitless power! _Limitless!_"

"Limitless…?" Rose felt unnerved by his confidence that he would succeed, especially as she was still unclear on how he was to achieve the 'limitless power' he spoke of.

"I shall soon be your ruler Supreme!" He contorted his face into a smile, and watched Rose and Bren under the misguided belief that he had impressed them and that they were in awe of him.

"But-what…who… are you?" Rose asked, hesitating slightly.

"I? I! I'm The Necromancer, dear child! The man cackled cruelly and Rose flinched at the harsh, icy tone in his voice. "Soon to be the most powerful human Earth has _ever_ known!" He sat back in the black pod, his face self-satisfied, his thin, blue lips twisted into an evil grin. _No_, Rose corrected herself, _a grimace._ This man was pure poison, so corrupted he was willing to slaughter countless innocents in order to gain the power and supremacy he desperately longed for. The sight of him sickened Rose.

"You're twisted. You're killing people for what? Supremacy? Power ain't everything!" The Necromancer just continued laughing in reply. Rose was infuriated, her anger was bubbling under her skin, she could feel the white-hot flames in her chest cavity and her stomach was in knots.

"You won't get away wiv it!" She shouted at him. "The Doctor will stop you! You'll pay fer what you done to all those people! You'll pay for what you done to Damian!" The Necromancer simply surveyed her outburst with mild interest.

"The Doctor?" He said as one corner of his lips twisted upwards. "The _last_ Time Lord?" Rose's stomach did a flip inside her, her toes tingled and the shiver went up her body like a power surge. Immediately she wished she could have controlled her temper; now he knew the Doctor was aboard.

"Well_, my child._" The Necromancer grinned to reveal a set of yellow, pointy teeth. "I think you've given me enough information."

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**Thanks for reading! (If you actually read it!) Now go review! **


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